Midweek Matchup Against the Champions- Rapids vs Galaxy Preview

Commerce City, CO — The Colorado Rapids return home after a much-needed break from play to face the reigning champions, the LA Galaxy. The Galaxy has had a historically poor defense of their championship so far this season, with their first win of the year only coming two games back, against RSL. LA sits at the bottom of the Western Conference (1-5-12, 8 points), but has a better two-game form than the hosts going into Wednesday. The Rapids will look to come back from the break better than they left it. Two straight home shutout losses were tough for the team to swallow, and they will look to score and win in their last of three straight home matches. Let’s take a look at the matchup.

When: Wednesday, June 25 @ 7:30 p.m. MST

Where: DICK’s Sporting Goods Park

TV/Streaming: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV

Two Straight Shutout Losses at Home:

It was never going to be an easy matchup when Orlando City came to town. Coming off a disappointing 2-0 loss at home to an Austin team that had struggled as of late, this game was a chance to beat a good team and get some momentum for the second half of the season. Chris Armas went back to the 4-2-2-2 for this game, after losing the last two in the 4-2-3-1. There were a few changes along the backline, with Ian Murphy and Sam Vines making rare starts. Ted Ku-DiPietro started on the opposite side of Djordje Mihailović, which made it the wingers’ fourth straight start. He is starting to turn the corner in terms of fitness and sharpness.

The game was end-to-end to start, with both sides having opportunities that probably should have been put away early. Sam Vines had one of the best looks of the game when the Orlando defense couldn’t handle a Nico Hansen long diagonal ball. But the homegrown skewed his shot wide. The breakthrough and eventual winner came in the 24th minute through Orlando attacker Martin Ojeda. A potential foul on a 50/50 header had the Rapids caught off guard by an Orlando attack that smoothly found the Lions striker in the box. The low shot from Ojeda snuck under Hansen’s arm. Not the greatest moment from the standout keeper, but still a good finish from Ojeda.

Orlando could only muster 0.31 expected goals on the night, with the Rapids taking over the majority of the possession after the goal. The Rapids had 13 shots on the night, but only two on target and none on target in the first half. The connection up top through Djordje, Rafa, and Yapi was off all night. This stonewalled many of the Rapids’ attacks throughout the match. The team still looks to rely on Djordje too much in these moments. The team lives or dies on the sword of Djordje. If the captain doesn’t have a good match, the team suffers.

This match was a prime example of this issue. It is now three matches straight with a loss, and only one goal in those 270 minutes plus stoppage time. Two wins in the last 10 aren’t going to get this team in the playoffs. However, the team has as many points at this stage of the season as they had at the same point last season. A good run of form can change the fortunes of a season, and the Rapids will be banking on it for the second half of 2025.

Rapids vs Galaxy Lineup Prediction:

Hansen / Cannon, Awaziem, Maxsø, Vines / Larraz, Atencio / Mihailović (C), Ku-DiPietro / Navarro, Yapi

Barring any surprises on the injury report, I expect the Rapids to have everyone who was available against Orlando to be available for this matchup, except for Cole Bassett. The Littleton native made his much-anticipated return from his ankle injury against Orlando. Unfortunately for Cole, minutes into his return, he heard his ankle pop, and the pain came back. After missing the end of 2024 with an injury that the club described as precautionary to start, Cole has had some bad luck with injuries throughout 2025. We have not seen too much of Cole Bassett on the field this year, let alone in his preferred position as a box-to-box midfielder. 

If the team continues to play in the 4-2-2-2, many of the positions are locked down. It would always be Yapi and Rafa up top. Mihailović as a ten, and Larraz and Atencio in the two holding positions. However, I would like to see Cole mixed in with that group at some point.

The backline is where some question marks start to crop up. Ian Murphy helped himself with the Orlando performance, but the consensus center backs are Maxsø and Awaziem. Cannon has been great on the right-hand side and deserves that spot. That leaves one left-back position for Keegan Rosenberry, Jackson Travis, and Vines.

The Cannon acquisition seemed to signal the eventual phase-out of Rosenberry, which has already begun despite the recent contract renewal. For much of this season, the left-back spot has been Travis’. The Mississippi native was a long shot to start early in the year, but has become a solid option. This has left out Vines, who has had a disappointing return to Colorado from his European stint. However, we saw a tactic from Armas that put Vines in a favorable position against Orlando. Vines was allowed to go forward, and with Mihailović looking to go central more often than not, Vines was able to exploit the space left by Djordje. It was the closest to Vinesback that we have seen from him in his return, and it is a viable tactic going forward. 

How do the Rapids Find More Goals?

The days of the high-flying Chris Armas offense seem to be lost in 2024, with the Rapids struggling to find production lately. In the last nine matches, the Rapids have not scored more than one goal in a game. They have scored five goals in that stretch and have conceded twelve. These are not winning numbers if you’re the Colorado Rapids. 

So, what has changed from 2024? The most significant stat change from last year to this year has been dead-ball goals. The Rapids are not dangerous on set pieces and are getting fewer penalties than last year. Penalties are not as stable a goal-scoring method, so a drop-off could be expected, but it is not entirely dependent on luck. The more a team is in the opposing box, the more penalties they will get. The Rapids are in the opposition box less often than last year and have therefore been given fewer penalties.

The biggest concern comes from the lack of production of set pieces, or more specifically, corners. The Rapids had built an identity of being strong on set pieces. Chris Sharpe, the set-piece and goalkeeper coach, had the team rolling in recent years. Especially with Jack Price on the corners. But since Djordje Mihailović has taken over corner kick duties, there has been a decline in production. Sharpe must be aware of this, as they tried a few different corner kick routines against Orlando. This included some short corners, which the Rapids have rarely touched. It did not work against Orlando, and it has not worked all season. The team is missing these types of goals in 2025. 

It is also interesting to note that Djordje leads the team in both goals and assists, but his two assists don’t appear to be particularly impressive, given his expected assists for the year are 7.6. The guys he passes to need to finish better. The team still has only three goals outside of Rafa, Yapi, and Djordje. Someone will have to step up for Colorado.

Historically Bad Title Defense:

The LA Galaxy have been the surprise of the season in 2025, for all the wrong reasons. Rapids fans will know more than most that the 2024 Galaxy team was deserving of the franchise’s sixth MLS title. Which is why their 2025 campaign has been such a surprise, as they have only eight points after 18 matches. It took them until their 17th match of the season to record their first win, which was against Real Salt Lake. No team had ever started a title defense worse in MLS history, and they were beginning to scratch the surface of some really bad records. They did have a longer winless streak than Anthony Hudson had during his last few months in Colorado, which should tell the whole story for LA.

A significant reason for this struggle has been because of that 2024 MLS Cup Championship season, and how the team went all out for the title. They were going to have salary cap issues this year because the team went all out in 2024. They had to release or trade some key players due to the salary cap. Dejan Jovelic, Marco Delgado, and Jalen Neal were all sacrifices. They traded away Gaston Brugman for Sean Davis to cut costs, but then couldn’t afford to keep Sean Davis and were forced to release him. LA has kept the big three of Paintsil, Pec, and Puig, but at a cost.

It hasn’t all been about the changes made during the offseason. LA has been hit with some pretty bad injuries to some key players this season. Riqui Puig tore his ACL in the Western Conference finals last season and hasn’t made his return yet. Both Gabriel Pec and Joseph Paintsil have missed time throughout 2025. Missing key players, especially with the quality that the Galaxy’s key guys have, results will drop. They have for LA. However, both Pec and Paintsil are starting to find their feet and are stringing a few games together. This may be a completely different-looking team than the one we have seen so far. 

Prediction: The Rapids are able to come out of the break as a rejuvenated team and hand the LA Galaxy their 13th loss of the season. Rapids win 2-1.

Photo Credit: Mark Shaiken

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